Casimir force between two half spaces of vortex matter in anisotropic superconductors

Abstract We present a new approach to calculate the attractive long-range vortex–vortex interaction of the van der Waals type present in anisotropic and layered superconductors. The mapping of the statistical mechanics of two-dimensional (2D) charged bosons allows us to define a Casimir problem: two half spaces of vortex matter separated by a gap of width R are mapped to two dielectric half planes of charged bosons interacting via massive gauge field. We determine the attractive Casimir force between the two half planes and show that it agrees with the pairwise summation of the van der Waals force between vortices.